Rail-fastening



F. C. STOWELL.

BML FASTENING.

APPucAUoN FILED JULY 26. 1918.

Patented' Feb. 8, 1921.

PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK C. STOWELL, 0F MEDEORD, MASSACHUSETTS.

RAIL-FASTENING.

Application led July 2G, 1918.

To all fr0/rom t may concern- Be it known that I, FRANK C. STownLL, a citizen of the United States, residing at llledford, county of i/i'iddlesex, Common wealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail- Fastenings, of which the following is a specification.

The subject matter of my present invention while applicable both in whole and in part to other uses is of most immediate iinportance with relation to rail fastenings. Rails laid with the usual spikes and tie plates hve been subject to a constant loosening constituting a considerable element of trouble and expense in the upkeep of-the track and also an element of danger wherever it is of sudden development.

In discussingmy invention therefore I shall more particularly refer to its vdirectapplication to this problem and to its embodiment in elements adapted to take the place of the usual spikes and rail plates, as such an application of my invention affords a more practicalillustrati-ve embodiment of the principles involved.

In spite of the various inventions intended to supplant the familiar square driven track spike, and in spite of its universal tendency to continuously work out under the vertical rplay of the rails following the passage of therolling` load, that form of fasteningfstill. remains in .principal service on most roads. Thisfhas necessi- 'rated frequent redrivingofthe spikes to properly reseat them andto secure the'rails. Most'of thedevices'provide for overcoming this difliculty, notably screw spikes, have not proven suiliciently better to warrant their greatly increased cost.

It is the object of my invention to provide a lock spike and a lock 'platereadily substitutable 'for 'the spikes and 'tie plates now in use in substantial conformity to the practice in laying rails and capable ofv production and use atino material increase in cost over the old standardform mentioned above.

The vertical tendency'or play of a rail is a factor apparently unavoidable and the pull exerted by the rail in such a movement on any fastening is powerful and persistent. My invention contemplates the utilization of other components of play of the rail for the purpose of keeping the fastening element in place. To this end I provide my Specification of Letters Patent.

illlustrated, the

Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

Serial No. 246,837.

spike with a bearing or be introduced beneath indirectly shoulder adapted to the raildirectly or in such a way as to receive the weight of the rolling load and thus make' the component of compression which is so intimately related with the reverse movement on return after the load has passed,

serve the purpose of seating the lfastening securely each time.

rllhe construction and operation of Inyinf vention will be more fully described in detail in the specification which follows, and is illustrated in the drawings,in which like characters are employed for reference to the specification. In the drawings:

Figure l is a partial section through a rail and tie and illustrating one forml of my invention in which the spike is adapted to directly engage the lock plate.

Fig. 2 is asimilar view illustrating a modification in which the spikeidirectlyengages the base of the rail, and

Figs. 3 and 4 are detail views on approximately the lines 3 3 and elfe, respectively, of Figs. l and 2.

I have indicated at l a tie of usual construction, at 2 a lock Atie plate superposed thereon, and at 3 a rail, the base of Awhich rests squarely upon the tie platebetween opposed shoulders 4-4 formed on saidfpl'ate transversely thereof.

In the form illustrated in Fig. l, the tra-ck spike is adapted to engage the under face of the tie plate and in IfigQ-it directly engages the base of the rail; In both forms, the weight of the rolling load'on'the track acting through the rail and tie plate, and which in all previous forms of rail fastenings hasbeen a continually operating factor tocause the spikes to Work out'of the tie, is-utilized to permanently holdthe spike inpo'sition. In a word, my spike is held in position by the very forces which withdraw other forms of spike.

In Figs. l and 2 a cylindrical spikefis rounded `body portion thereof being indicated at 5. The spike 5 has a hooked head 6 which when in position engages the rail. base in the usual' manner and is surmounted by a lsquared head portion 7 which receives the driving blows of the s'piking'hammer and also provides a wrench hold whereby the spike may be turned into locking position after it `has been driven.

'Attached to or forming a part of the cylindrical body portion of the spike is a horizontally disposed locking projection or lug 8. This lug is located at an appropriate distance below the hook head 6, according to whether the spike is to be located. under the tie plate 2 as shown in Fig. l, or under the rail base as shown in Fig. 2.

The tie plates used in connection with my invention are provided with cylindrical holes 9 through the shoulders l and of a size to receive the cylindrical body portion of the spike and with extensions of these holes 9, indicated l0, and constituting passages for the lugs 8 of the same contour but slightly larger than the lugs. The lugs 8 and passages 'l0 are so located relatively to .cach other and to the spike head that when the spike is driven the lug will just clear the edge of the rail base and will pass into and through the extension i0, the relation being such Vthat when the upper face of the lug 8 has cleaned either the base of the tie plate orthe base of the rail, according to which is to be locked by direct engagement with the lugyand has therefore reached its approximate plane of locking engagement, the hookhead 6 of the spike will engage the rail base.

After the spike has been driven home, it is given substantially a quarter turn by engaging the wrench hold portion '7 thereof with a suitable wrench. This partial revolutionswings the hook head 6 ofthe spike over the rail base and carries the lug S into a position in which it will engage either the under face of the tie plate or the rail base, according to its location along the body portion of the spike. The spike is now locked and the weight of the rolling loads, instead of tending to withdraw Ythe spike as in all previous forms, actually increases the pormanence of the locking engagement.

When it is desired to withdraw the spike, the squared portion Z-.thereof is engaged and the spike turned untill the lug 8 registers with the passage 10,'whereupon the usual claw bari-is inserted beneath the hook head o and the spike is drawn.

In order to facilitate entrance of the lug S into the passage'l() through the tie plate the under face of the lug is preferably rounded slightly toward the bottom as indicated at 8', so that in'driving should the spike happen not to be exactly concentric with the spike hole 9, this tapering portion of the lug will enter opening l() and wedge or cam the spike into position when driven. This rounded tapering surface of the lug has the additional advantage of permitting the spike to be more easily twisted when .it is embedded in the tie. The leading portion of the lug is therefore a rounded tapering surface, but in order to hold the lug in its opening` and prevent it. from twisting 4back to original position after a load has passed,the following end of the lug terminates abruptly r preference and requirements.

in a shoulder 8 adapted to resist any backing-out tendency of the spike under the vertical movement `of the rail.

The distance of the fiat top'engaging surface 8h of the lug from the bottom of the spike head may vary according to individual Under some conditions, it may be considered preferable to have the arrangement such that when the lug is in locking contact with the base of the tie plate or the base of the rail, as the case may be, the spike head will at the same time be in actual contact with the upper face of the rail base. Other conditions might require that at such time there should be some slight space between the spike head and the rail base to allow for a certain amount of vertical play of the rail before it actually contacts with the spike head. This allowance for play need be only very slight, and in practice, would probably not exceed le, to of an inch.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the drawings, it will be apparent that the spike is locked in position bythe very forces which have heretofore operated to withdraw the spike. It has been established that the ordinary driven spike, and the screw spike which has been used in some localities in place of the ordinary driven spike, are vwithdrawn by the vertical movement of the rail under the weight of the rolling load, and although this movement is very slight, yet because the action is repeated indefinitely the spike is gradually withdraw from the tie.

With my spike and tie plate the tendency of the spike to draw out under the movement of the rail is met by the rail itself and the spike is immediately returned. The spike therefore never gets the first start out, which start causes the ordinary spike to gradually withdraw from the tie, but on the contrary the spike is actually driven down into the tie by the depressing rail. This not only prevents the spike becoming loose in the spike hole but materially helps resist the tendency of the rail and tie plate to sink into the tie.

Various modifications in the form and construction of my device may obviously be resorted to Vall without departing from the spirit of my invention if within the limits of the appended claims.

Vhat I therefore claim and desireV to se- V120 cure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination, a rail, a tie, and a tie lock plate having a hole therein and an extension of said hole, a spike adapted to enter said hole and having a lug formed with a tapered under face, a fiat locking face, and an abrupt shoulder at its follow ing end and adapted to enter the extension of said hole, said spike rotatable to position said lug in spike-anchoring relation to Said tie plate and rail, and having` a rail anchoring head adapted for engagement With the upper face of the rail base, and a combination driving and wrench-hold portion on said spike surmounting said rail anchoring portion.

2. In a rail fastening, a tie plate having a hole therein, a track spike comprising a rotatable shank adapted `to aline with said hole and having an anchoring lug provided with a rounded leading portion adapted to engage a Wall of the hole and cam the spike into said hole should the alineinent of hole and shank be inaccurate, and a rail eng-ag.

engage a Wall of the hole and cam the spike into said hole should the alineinent of hole and shank be inaccurate and having an abrupt shoulder at its following end adapted to prevent the spike backine' ont of the hole under the play of the rail, and a rail engaging head on said spike above and spaced from said lug.

4l. In a rail fastening, a tie plate having a hole therein and having an extension of said hole, a track spike comprising a rotatable shank adapted to aline with said hole and having an anchoring lug adapted to enter said hole extension, Said lug having a rounded leading portion adapted to engage a Wall of said hole extension and cam the spike into said hole should the alineinent of hole and shank be inaccurate and having an abrupt shoulder at its following end adapted to prevent the spike backing out of the hole under the play of the rail, a rail engaging head on said spikel above and spaced from said lug, and a combination driving and Wrench-hold portion Surinounting said head. y

ln testimony whereof I afiix my signa turc in presence of tWo Witnesses.

FRANK C. STOVVELL. lVitnesses VICTORIA LoWDEN, GEORGE B. RAWLINGS. 

